


the head that wears a crown

by childofthenight2035



Series: magic in the air [3]
Category: GOT7, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Anxiety Attacks, Gen, Magical Artifacts, lapslock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27487348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofthenight2035/pseuds/childofthenight2035
Summary: uneasy lies the head that wears a crown:the person who has the most authority suffers the largest amount of stress, anxiety and doubt.
Series: magic in the air [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2004382
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	the head that wears a crown

**Author's Note:**

> i should really study but i've fallen down this wormhole of writing, but hey, i'm not going to turn away this streak of productivity

“oh, and chan? do me a favour? go to this store and ask the lady behind the counter for the crown. for your role. just tell her park jinyoung sent you.”

-

“chan, you’re a _king_ ,” jinyoung stresses yet again. “act like you are.” he holds his copy of the script in hand, whacking the arm of his chair occasionally. chan looks down at his own script, dialogues highlighted, and tells himself to concentrate. what was wrong with him today? “i know you’re already a sort of leader, aren’t you? most of your friends look to you for advice. act like that. like you’ve been told to babysit seven kids and need their cooperation.” jinyoung waves over the actors playing the court officials. “start the scene again.”

chan lets out a little sigh, a headache already forming behind his knotted eyebrows. he’s been fine all day. why now? in front of jinyoung hyung? 

yet again, he wonders why he was chosen to play this role. or any role at all. people suggested he audition for a part, but what on earth had he been thinking? yeah, the head of the drama club professor whos-it agreed to cast him, but was he really suitable for it? and it didn’t help that jinyoung hyung, who _volunteered_ to be here seemed to think he was wasting everyone’s time. 

“places, everyone. chan, whenever you’re ready.”

there’s a dull ache forming at his usual sore spots on his shoulders and back; a sharper pain between his eyes and he squeezes them shut in an attempt to get rid of it. what is going on with him today? _pull yourself together._

he starts off more forceful than before, disapproval of his own acting bleeding into the words as anger. he misinterprets jinyoung’s satisfied exclamation as criticism and stops midway through his monologue. his hands are trembling. _why did you think this was a good idea?_

“chan?”

his head is _throbbing_ now. it hurts too much for him to ignore. he hasn’t had a migraine in a long time. he’s stopped taking medication for it. _why would you do that, you dumbass! look at you now! stupid—_

“chan, what’s the matter?”

he’s looking at the script, but he’s not seeing any of the words on it. he can’t speak anymore. his back and shoulders are aching like they do after a swim team meet, but he obviously didn’t have one today? he _did_ have four hours of classes back-to-back, which should be _illegal_ , so maybe it’s because of that? because he’s just mentally tired? can people get backaches from just sitting down for four hours straight? 

he only just notices that his heartbeat has picked up. the blood pounding in his ears means he can’t hear anything else. his hands are really shaking now. his knees buckle—but someone catches him before he falls. he feels the wood of the stage under his palms and it shocks him just a little back into consciousness. _fuck,_ he thinks, barely hearing his own thoughts over anything, _am i having a panic attack?_

the arms supporting him vanish. he’s actually scared now. 

he can hardly see through the pain and the tears in his eyes. he’s going to die, isn’t he? he hasn’t even given changbin his pen drive. his heart or his head is going to burst and he’s going to _die_. he hears muffled voices and then someone’s in front of him, taking his hand and pressing it to his heart. he feels how fast it’s going and he breathes. in, out. in, out. he’s getting light-headed from it. he’s going to faint. 

something snags his hair, and it might be that sting that clears his vision, but suddenly he can see again. it’s such a relief that he slumps forward, into jinyoung’s arms. 

jinyoung hyung is saying something like _go put this in the props room_ and the vibrations run through him, soothe him. he lets out a shaky breath and closes his eyes. 

“you’re okay, chan,” jinyoung is saying, palms rubbing his back. “you’re okay.” and then, directed at the other kids, “i think we’ll call it a day. i want everybody off book tomorrow, yeah?”

chan’s breathing is slowly returning to normal, and a twinge of embarrassment creeps in. did he really just let this happen in front of everyone? he was fantastic yesterday, jinyoung said so. what the hell happened today? he literally did the same scene. this time he actually _had_ the king’s crown. wait, where is the crown? _must have fallen off._

guilt follows. he’s wasted a whole practice hour because of what? anxiety? it wasn’t even the night of the play! not even dress rehearsal! jinyoung is still holding him like he’s too scared to let go, so chan withdraws, head bowed in shame. he doesn’t look up. 

“chan, you okay now?” 

he nods, reaching around for his script. he half wants to insist they do the scene over, but jinyoung already called for pack up. these dialogues don’t look impossible anymore. they never have, actually. what the hell happened today, then?

“are you sure?” both of them get to their feet. “do you need some water? anything at all?” he should probably drink more water, but he shakes his head. he’s fine for the moment. it’s like his stress vanished. his head isn’t throbbing anymore. his backache is gone. 

jinyoung watches him carefully, a hand still on his shoulder. “was i too hard on you today? i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to make you stressed; you did perfectly yesterday.” he clears his throat, lips twisting. “was today a bad day?”

chan shakes his head again. “i don’t know what happened, to be honest. i feel fine now.” he glances at the script. “i don’t know, when i was reading, i had a headache and—” he places his hand back over his chest. “—i panicked for some reason. i don’t know.”

“hmm.” there’s a thoughtful look on jinyoung’s face. his eyes slide to somewhere behind chan. “well, anyway, i don’t think we should continue practice. go home and get some rest, yeah? and make sure you _sleep_.” he finishes with a stern glare. 

“yes, hyung, whatever you say.” 

he gets a swatting at his backside as he leaves, but it’s alright.

jinyoung’s aim is shit, anyway.

-

“hyung, what’s this? a new crown? where’s the one i had yesterday?”

“that one? ah…it—it broke.”

“aw, it looked cooler. but it’s okay. when should i start?”

“whenever you’re ready, chan.”

**Author's Note:**

> yes, jinyoung figured it out, you see if he didn't go back and give that old lady a talking to


End file.
